The Role of AI and Machine Learning in the Evolution of Mobile App Design

Two of the fastest-rising technology trends of the past decade are on a collision course. The artificial intelligence software market is expected to reach nearly $2 trillion by 2030, while the global app market is slated to top $500 billion in the same time frame.

It doesn't come as a surprise, then, that mobile app development increasingly has to keep artificial intelligence in mind.

In more ways than one, the two technologies are a surprisingly neat fit. As mobile app design evolves, developers with the right knowledge and experience can leverage AI and machine learning in a wide range of ways. In fact, its integration might just be the key to a successful mobile app that audiences continue to engage with and just cannot put down.

The Basics and Rise of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence has become a common buzzword in the past six months when the release of ChatGPT suddenly thrust what had previously been a relatively insider topic into the mainstream. Suddenly, anyone could create an account and see the potential power of AI for themselves. Perhaps not surprisingly, ChatGPT became the fastest software platform to reach 100 million active users in history. 

But the specter of artificial intelligence has boiled below the surface for much longer. Chatbots, advanced analytics solutions, and common platforms like Google have long used machine learning and other advanced concepts to their advantage. Its growth may be exponential, but it did not just begin to grow last year. 

A significant reason for that growth connects to the core concepts behind AI. Put simply, it is a simulated version of natural intelligence, which means one thing above all: autonomous learning. AI software learns—through data inputs—and brings the ability to improve itself. Software built on it is thus no longer a static platform that requires manual updates for all improvement, but a self-improving, dynamic experience that continues to get better over time. 

In other words, artificial intelligence can learn the behavioral patterns of its users and react accordingly. It can complete monotonous tasks nearly instantly but also learn from them to improve itself. Human inputs can be automated to create a better, more streamlined, experience.

5 Ways in Which AI and Machine Learning Will Advance Mobile App Development

While all of the above nuances and benefits of AI apply to most or all of its applications, they don't exist in a vacuum. Its applications are especially extensive in mobile app development, where the technology has the potential to impact anything from creating more personalized applications to providing better quality assurance processes.

1. Building More Personalized User Experiences

Personalization has become a key to the success of modern apps and digital experiences as a whole. In fact, a study by McKinsey found that fast-growing companies derive 40% more of their revenue from personalization, compared to their slower-growing peers. 

Implemented the right way, artificial intelligence in the app development process has the ability to provide that personalization. On the backend, it can learn user behaviors and preferences, adjusting the front-end interface as a result. Ongoing behaviors become a type of natural feedback for the algorithm that reinforces or corrects adjustments, ultimately creating uniquely personalized app experiences for each user.

At its simplest, this might come in the form of a shopping app that learns what type of products users tend to be interested in, then adjust its home screen based on those purchasing patterns. The result is a more intelligent app interface that learns from every individual user, delivering a more user-centric experience in the process.

Related: Is Developing an App Worth It?

Based on that personalization, users become more likely to return to the app. When they do, further input allows further optimization. This virtuous cycle ultimately results not just in more engagement, but more revenue that allows the business to grow and thrive. 

2. Integrating Conversational AI Opportunities

Mobile apps succeed when they don't simply duplicate a website but offer an interface and experience that's more uniquely suited to mobile devices. Part of that equation is building a platform that doesn't just display information but allows its users to take an active part in shaping the user experience.

This is where one of the most popular common applications of artificial intelligence enters the equation: conversational AI, or the ability for software to simulate human interactions and conversations in a digital space.

Yes, we're talking about chatbots. Given the recent explosion of this technology through means like the above-mentioned ChatGPT, experts now estimate that by 2025, as many as 95% of all interactions between brands and consumers will be powered or enhanced by AI. Built the right way, your mobile app can become the perfect vehicle to encourage and drive these AI-powered interactions.

Consider, for example, the ability to add speech-based recognition and functionality to your mobile app. An interface optimized for conversational AI will be able to recognize speech-based inputs and can continue the interaction.

Even better, AI can sense the sentiment of the message to react accordingly, differentiating between functional requests and more emotionally-tinged microexpressions of emotions. It can also form speech and text-based conversational inputs over time, creating a more personalized and accurate experience in the process.

3. Enhancing Security Features for Sensitive Data

To say that data security needs to be a core emphasis in mobile app development might be an understatement. Modern users are becoming increasingly weary of having their data compromised; in fact, one study found that 90% of consumers worry about poor vendor security negatively impacting their lives in 2023.

And yet, few apps are built in a way that accommodates or soothes those worries. Studies show that 83% of mobile apps have at least one security flaw, while three-quarters of apps would not pass a basic security test. AI has the potential to begin shifting those admittedly worrisome statistics.

It starts with biometric authentication. In addition to or in lieu of traditional passwords, modern apps can be built to require a facial or fingerprint scan before accessing any sensitive data. Build it right, and the feature easily taps into the existing iOS and Android biometric opportunities, making the setup and user process simpler and more intuitive for users.

But the security opportunities don't end there. Machine learning algorithms have the potential to process significant amounts of unstructured data, enabling them to detect potential threats at a much larger scale than traditional means of cybersecurity. Indeed, AI-based threat detection models are already making major inroads across industries, which eases their integration into the app development process.

4. Leveraging the Power of Predictive Analytics

Machine learning-based threat detection is an example of predictive analytics in app development, but the opportunities of this topic go far beyond cybersecurity. Applied the right way, predictive analytics can help with anything from forecasting to consumer behavior insights, usage statistics, and future UX improvements.

At its core, predictive analytics describes the process of analyzing past and current data to predict future events and then using those events to impact decision-making. It's a common practice across the business world, but AI has the potential to revolutionize it by automating nearly the entire process.

Take behavioral app usage as an example. AI-enabled analytics can look at how users engage with your app, then splice the data based on definable differences like different user demographics, device type, and more. Insights gained from the data can impact not just dynamic content within the interface, but also what users may need or look for in the future. Those insights can be integrated into future decision-making for the app as it relates to features and updates.

And that's just the start. For app development in particular, predictive analytics can identify repetitive mistakes in the code, improve initial app ideas, and more. It allows stakeholders to quite literally look into the future, then adjust and streamline the development process to account for that prediction and increase the chances of app success.

5. Automating App Testing and Bug Detection

Finally, artificial intelligence and machine learning processes in particular can have a significant effect on the quality assurance steps that have to be built into the app development timeline. 

Testing mobile apps is inherently complex, thanks to the nuances related to device screen sizes, operating systems, orientations, and other factors that have to be taken into account. Even in development cycles using agile methodologies, testing can significantly slow down the timeline and increase costs as a result. Predictive and automated app testing can help to solve that issue.

Related: How is Agile Development Methodology Used in Mobile App Development?

The benefit of AI-enabled app testing is two-fold. Automating the process means increasing its speed, allowing developers to scale more easily and account for all potential user and device nuances. At the same time, predictive analytics provide insights into the areas most relevant for testing, eliminating unnecessary testing that won't find applications in the real world.

This results in significant time savings, without compromising QA or app quality. In fact, some experts estimate that engineering teams using AI-powered technology can cut the execution time of their testing tasks by up to 90%. And that's just one of the benefits of AI-enabled testing automation, showing just how valuable this AI application has already become in the development process. 

Leverage the Power of AI With the Right App Development Partner

Put it all together, and the power of AI when it comes to mobile app development is impossible to deny. Every step of the process, from understanding user behaviors to building more intelligent interfaces and final quality assurance, can benefit from this technology. But of course, those benefits remain theoretical until you find an app development partner that knows how to leverage it.

At Milo Mobile, we're passionate about every piece of the mobile app development process—including the ways artificial intelligence can play a part in your mobile app. We'd love to talk about how our knowledge and expertise can improve your app. Ready to get started? Book your free 30-minute consultation today.

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